In recent years, Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) have increasingly provided users with an elevated level of safety and security. PERS devices and equipment are user-installed devices attached to a landline network. Installation of a new PERS device and service is tied to user-provided information, such as address and telephone number. The general concept is that the PERS user is able to, with a single button press on a wearable unit, alert an emergency response call center that they are in distress and need immediate assistance. Some PERS devices, referred to as mobile PERS or mPERS, have wireless capability, allowing for the wearable unit to be active over extended range as compared to traditional PERS devices. Some PERS devices are capable of detecting events such as falls or extended periods of inactivity and alert the call center to these conditions. Regardless of the specific type of PERS device, upon activation of the PERS device, the appropriate response personnel are contacted and dispatched to the address of record for the user.
In the event that the address of record is inaccurate, personnel may be sent to the wrong address, leaving the user in distress. Inaccuracies in the address of record may occur for a number of reasons. For example, on installation of the PERS device, the user could inadvertently supply an incorrect address when the service is purchased. Other inaccuracies may occur when the user installs the device at an address different from the address for which the device was initially registered, or when the user understands the street address assigned to the landline to be different from the address used by emergency personnel upon dispatch. Normally, landline telephone numbers are registered with a municipal street address in a Master Street Guide (MSAG) database used by emergency personnel when responding to an emergency call. Such databases can contain errors due to changes in street numbering plans, typographical errors in entries, changes in emergency service zones (which emergency services are responsible for specific street addresses), and changes to landlines assigned to the street address.
Traditionally, PERS devices connected to PSTN type landlines. Automatic Number Identification (ANI) or caller Identification (caller ID) of the landline provided for an identification for an accurate address lookup in most cases. Even if the user moves the device to a new home, the new caller ID or ANI would provide an accurate identification for address lookup at the new location. However, increasingly, users are connecting PERS devices to alternative types of landline networks, which may or may not provide accurate address lookup capabilities.
For example, as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) becomes increasingly popular, inaccuracies in the address of record for the associated equipment (e.g., VoIP Analog Terminal Adapter (ATA), sometimes referred to as a Media Terminal Adapter (MTA)) may not reflect the actual address of the equipment. When the user moves a PERS device along with an ATA to another broadband connection, the PERS device keeps the same telephone number. A lookup based on ANI or caller ID would return the old address, creating problems with location-based services such as PERS service and E911.
Hence, a need exists for ensuring the address of record reflects the actual address of the user of a moveable landline device, such as a PERS device.